


What's Black and White and Dead All Over?

by EyeOfMordor



Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Genre: Bug Man got me good with the feels ngl, F/M, beetlejuice is bi because lets be real he radiates pure Chaotic Bisexual energy, musical!verse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 18:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20765267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EyeOfMordor/pseuds/EyeOfMordor
Summary: Five years have passed since the night that changed the Deetz’ lives. With Lydia moving out of state for college, Charles and Delia feel that it’s exactly the right time to move somewhere a little smaller, and little less haunted. But the house doesn’t stand empty for long – Mara, freshly graduated and new to Connecticut in search of career prospects – moves in, bringing new life to the house. The Maitland’s approve of her, but deem it better to keep to themselves.Their green haired acquaintance doesn’t agree.





	1. Prologue; Forlorn

Lydia Deetz stood in her doorway, glazed eyes scanning across the empty bedroom. The space felt barren without her things there, now all packed up in boxes and dutifully stacked in the moving van. She remembered unpacking when she was fifteen, the feeling of betrayal still fresh in her chest after her father’s announcement that this was to be their new home. She’d strewn things all over the floor, practically tipped over boxes of clothes in her anger. She chuckled to herself as she remembered the teenager she once was.

“Lydia darling, that’s everything in the van!” Delia called to her from the landing, handing Charles the last few boxes. She approached her daughter-in-law when no reply came, gently putting a hand on the girls shoulder. “Are you alright? I know it’s a lot to take in, seeing it so empty.”

Lydia smiled faintly, giving a few thankful pats to Delia’s hand. “It’s just weird, you know? I remember how much I hated the idea of living here at first, and now it’s almost like I can’t bring myself to leave.”

“The biggest steps are often the hardest,” Delia agreed gently, retracting her hand. “I’ll go make sure your fathers got everything, give you some time to say goodbye?”

“Thanks, Delia,” she nodded, “I appreciate that.”

“We’ll be outside whenever you’re ready darling, no rush.”

With that she departed, down the stairs and out into the driveway. There was a time in her life where Lydia couldn’t have stomached the thought of Delia being a maternal figure in her life, but after all that’d happened five years ago the two grew close. Delia wasn’t trying to replace her mom, simply trying to help her through life when it was at its toughest. Nowadays Lydia couldn’t imagine their lives without her.

A small leather-bound journal lay at the foot of her bed, tattered at the edges and held closed with a strip of black lace. She picked it up, said one final goodbye to her bedroom, and headed up to the attic.

As soon as she stepped foot up there, two pairs of arms enveloped her. They were faintly cold to the touch, but she didn’t care, gripping onto them in return and fighting the tears that were forming.

“I’m gonna miss you guys so much,” she murmured into Barbara’s shoulder.

“We’re gonna miss you too, Lyds,” came Adam’s high-pitched, scratchy reply. She looked up at them, tears streaked down both their faces, and it only served to open the floodgates. They held each other, bodies occasionally jolting with sobs, as she said goodbye to the Maitlands.

“You should be happy, you’re going to college!” Barbara said, pulling away and wiping tears off of her face. She cracked a smile – genuine, but bittersweet.

“You’re going to meet so many people and have so much fun,” Adam reiterated, clearing his throat to try and regain himself.

“I know, I just can’t stand the thought of leaving you guys behind,” Lydia sniffed.

“Hey, hey, this isn’t goodbye forever, you know that.” Barbara leaned forward, using her thumb to wipe some stray tears from Lydia’s cheek. “We’ll see each other again, you know we will.”

“Yeah, I sure the new owner will let you in if you ask,” Adam nodded.

“Are you sure you’re okay with her?” Lydia asked.

Before any sort of decision had been made, Charles had thought it only right to consult the Maitlands. He explained to them that, with Lydia moving to what was practically the other end of the country, himself and Delia wanted to downsize somewhere a little closer to where she’d be studying. Of course, Adam and Barbara had been under no expectations that the Deetz’ were going to spend the rest of their life there, but they’d at least thought that they’d have a little more time with them. Still, they both knew this was best for the family, so they gave Charles their blessing to put the house on the market.

Their blessing did come with one stipulation, however. They were allowed a say in who the house got sold to, because in the end it was them who’d be living with them. Charles was happy to oblige, deeming it only fair, and so each person who came to view the house got asked a splattering of personal questions during the tours, the Maitlands silently following behind and listening.

There was a few folks they vetoed right off the bat – a businessman who wanted to knock the whole thing down and rebuild from the foundations up, and a rich lady who wanted to turn it into a holiday retreat for her and her thirty six cats – but they seemed quite happy with their final decision.

Mara Barrows, twenty five and freshly graduated, looking for somewhere peaceful to live where she could hopefully finally get her book published. Adam and Barbara both took an immediate shining to her, and when they’d appeared to Charles at the end of the tour giving vigorous thumbs up he’d given her an offer on the spot. Clearly surprised by the price – a good bit lower than originally listed – she’d readily agreed. Tomorrow she moved in.

“She seems lovely,” Barbara assured Lydia. “Polite, quiet, respectful – just the kind of person we want living with us.”

Lydia scrunched her face up a little. “Doesn’t that sound a little.. boring?”

“It’ll be nice to have some peace, I think,” Adam admitted. “Not to say that we don’t love all three of you, because we _do, _but sometimes you’re all a bit.. loud?”

Lydia snorted. “Yeah, sorry about that. Family game nights can get a bit too competitive sometimes. I’m glad you’re happy with her though, at least this time you get to choose who moves in.”

“We didn’t get to choose you, but we’re forever thankful that you came into our lives.” Barbara pressed a kiss to the girls forehead, ruffling her hair a little in the process. “Now go on, you’re gonna get stuck in traffic if you keep your folks waiting.”

More tears threatened to spill as Lydia gave them a last tight embrace. “I’ll come back as soon as I can, I promise! I love you guys so much.”

She turned to leave, suddenly remembering the book in her hand. “I wanted you guys to have this – it’s the diary I kept from when we first moved here. I wrote about discovering you guys, about haunting the dinner party, about.. _him._ I want you guys to have it, so you’ll always have a little part of me.”

“Oh, Lyds, you know you’re always in our hearts,” Adam said, palm across his chest. “We’ll treasure it.”

She placed it gently on the nearby table, taking a deep breath as she looked around the attic. She had a horrible feeling in her gut that she’d never see them again, but she knew she was just being dramatic. Giving a small wave, Lydia Deetz swallowed her tears and said goodbye to the Maitlands.

The couple watched from the attic window as the vehicles pulled away, drifting down the winding gravel drive and off behind the treeline where they could no longer see them. They both felt a sickening twist of loneliness in their stomachs.

“Well, I guess it’s just us now,” Adam said, trying to find some levity.

“Only till tomorrow, at least,” Barbara added. “Charles said Mara was going to be moving in quite early.”

“Lets make use of this peace and quiet and have a romantic night in, huh?”

Barbara smiled at Adams suggestion, wrapping her arms around her husband’s waist and leaning her head against his chest. His arms came around her shoulders, and she felt safe. “It’ll get easier,” she said aloud.

“I know it will,” Adam hummed. “Eventually.”


	2. Chapter 1; A Fresh Start

Mara pulled up outside, drawing her car to a halt and looking up at the house that was now her own. It towered above her, the oddly shaped structure looking almost intimidating. But it was her home now.

She was eternally grateful that the Deetz’ had left most of the furniture there – the thought of having to furnish the entire house herself was daunting – and she herself didn’t have all that much stuff to bring with her. A good half of the boxes were full of books, others held clothes, cookware, trinkets, all sorts really. As she turned the key and unlocked the front door, her mind flitted to the idea of dedicating an entire room to be a library.

Her thoughts were cut short when she stepped inside. Of course she’d seen the house before during the viewings, and all the pictures as well, but something struck her as odd to see it so.. empty. When she’d visited it had felt so full of life, despite only the three of them living there, but now it felt almost hollow.

“You’re just being dramatic,” she chastised herself quietly, sighing and slinging her jacket over the back of the couch. “I’m sure once I get my things moved in it’ll feel alive again.”

Mara pulled her curls up and back into a bun, trying to decide where to start first. The kitchen made sense, because then she could at least take a break from unpacking later and have some coffee, so that was where her mission begun. She lugged the heavy boxes through into the living room and slowly sorted through them, thankful that none of her mugs had broken in transit. Only one was chipped – the Halloween one her father had given her for a birthday ten years ago – but it’d been like that for years. She placed it right next to the kettle in its place of pride.

With the kitchen practically unpacked she decided it was definitely time for a break. She didn’t have the energy to set up the coffee maker, so she settled with a few scoops of the instant stuff, followed by water, milk, and a generous few spoonful’s of sugar. She took to wandering around the house in a leisurely stroll of her new abode, trying to decide which rooms would be what. She instantly put the largest room aside for a library, with the slightly smaller one across the hall seeming like a good choice for a bedroom. She’d get plenty of natural light in the mornings, that way.

Mara stopped just below the attic stairs. Admittedly it was the only part of the house she hadn’t seen yet, as it wasn’t in any of the listed pictures and Charles had avoided showing it to her on the tour. She frowned slightly, hoping there wasn’t some horrific reason they’d omitted it. She climbed the steps cautiously, praying she wouldn’t open the door to an infestation of rats or mould.

What she walked into was.. quaint. Really quaint, actually. A string of fairy lights gave a soft yellow glow to room, hitting the wooden walls and giving the small room a cozy atmosphere. She saw various bits and bobs lying around, as well as a couch, some furniture, and a table that held what looked like a model village. Peering closer at it, she realised it was _this _town, and the house stood right at the centre of the display.

“Huh, that’s neat,” she smiled. Whoever’d made it clearly had an eye for detail, she was surprised they hadn’t taken it with them. “Maybe they just didn’t have the space.”

She wandered around the room a little more, sipping at the coffee in her hands. Peering out one of the windows she saw that it led directly out onto the flat of the roof, and she grinned. She instantly climbed out, enjoying the feel of cool air on her face as she peered up at the sky and then down onto the houses’ surroundings. It was rather in the middle of nowhere, so the view was mostly unobstructed by any other close-by buildings, and Mara relished in the thought of being able to read up there.

Little did she know, the two undead residents were peering at her curiously.

“She seems really nice!” Barbara beamed, watching the young woman stare off at the horizon.

“I’m almost sad she can’t see us,” Adam mused. “It was nice having a connection to the world of the living, you know?”

“I know, but its best she doesn’t know we’re here,” his wife pointed out. “It’d only complicate things.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Adam sighed, taking her hand in his own. “I just hope she doesn’t mess with the house too much. What Charles did with that interior decorating was almost past excusable but –“

“Adam,” Barbara snorted, laughing at her husband. “I’m sure whatever she does will be fine. If you _really _don’t like it, then I’m sure we can haunt her just a little. You know, something subtle, like leaving ‘the feng-shui is all wrong’ written in blood on the bathroom mirror.”

He held his wife close as Mara stepped back into the attic, closing the window behind her. “I’ll hold you to that one,” he chuckled, pecking her cheek.

Mara was almost reluctant to go back down stairs. Of all the rooms in the house, this one felt the most lived in, the most _alive. _She put it down to the lack of space.

Something on the couch caught her eye. Putting her mug down at the coffee table, she sat down next to the leather-bound journal and picked it up, feeling its weight in her hands. She wasn’t too sure if she should open it at first, but she knew that her greatest temptation in life was an unopened book. She carefully undid the lace that kept it closed and opened to the first page.

Behind her, Adam and Barbara were fretting like mad. “What if she reads it and finds out about us?” Barbara said, her voice full of worry.

“It’s fine, I doubt she’ll believe anything that’s written in there,” Adam assured her, a hand on her arm. “She probably just thinks is the old diary of an imaginative teenager.”

Mara flicked through the pages, wide eyed. From what she could tell this had belonged to Lydia, daughter she’d met only briefly during her tour. She’d seemed like a lovely young girl, clearly excited to be off to college, but she’d never expected her to have had such a torrid experience. Her mother dying when she was only fifteen, moving house only months after, her fathers affair and proposal to her life coach – she imagined it would have been a lot to take in.

All the stuff about ghosts intrigued her even more, however.

As soon as she read that she’d found them in the attic it was if a cold breeze had run along her spine, and she could almost feel eyes on her. Looking around the still empty room, Mara told herself she was being silly and continued to read. The ghosts – called Adam and Barbara – had supposedly been the previous residents of the house, and were tricked by someone called Beetlejuice into staying and haunting the place for him. The demon was certainly an interesting character, and the more she read the more inquisitive she got. From what Lydia had written he was clearly cunning, and manipulative, and selfish, but also lonely, with a rough past. Scoffing, Mara took a sip of her coffee. “This kids a good writer.”

She read on, learning of the supposed trip to a place called the ‘Netherworld’, the wedding, the killing, and Beetlejuice saving them all from his mother. Reaching the last few pages, Lydia had written about how life was better now, their family now bigger.

“Wow,” was all she had to say as she closed it in her lap, finishing up her coffee. “She really had it rough, huh.”

Behind her, the Maitlands seemed to deflate with relief that she seemed to write it off.

Mara retied the lace around the diary and placed it gently where she’d found it, something in her not wanting to disturb it any more than she already had. Empty mug in hand she left the warm attic behind her, Lydia’s story still in her mind.

She got back to unpacking eventually, but she kept thinking back to what she’d read, practically mesmerised by it. She hung her clothes in her wardrobe while practically on autopilot, and she couldn’t even focus on making a start to alphabetising the books. Lydia, the Maitlands, Beetlejuice; it all replayed in her head as she went about her day.

Eventually she threw in the towel, deeming that 8pm was far too late to be sorting through boxes and that the rest of them could wait. Her dinner consisted of a quick microwavable pasta dish, something quick she’d grabbed on her way in this morning having anticipated that she’d likely not have the energy nor ingredients to cook. It didn’t taste very good, and the cheese was clearly plastic, but it would be satisfactory for just one night. She poured herself a large glass of wine and sprawled herself across the couch.

“Maybe this place _is _haunted,” she scoffed to herself, looking around. “Would explain why their offer was so cheap when I seemed interested.”

She paused momentarily. “Hey, if there’s any ghosts here, could you like, give me a sign or something? Only if you’re friendly thought, I don’t want any ghost murderers here.” The room remained silent, and Mara almost felt embarrassed for even asking. “Of course there’s not ghost. Ghosts aren’t real.”

Adam bristled a little at that, he and his wife looking down at the girl from the ceiling, their heads phased through the roof. “She did ask us..” Barbara said.

“It’s not worth the risk,” Adam sighed. “If we reveal ourselves there’s no telling the hassle that might come of it.”

“You’re right,” she nodded sadly. “You wanna go practice some slow dancing on the roof?”

“I’d love that.”

With a smile and a kiss the two of them disappeared, off to enjoy their romantic evening together.

Mara sipped at her wine, a sweet red that was more expensive than her usual taste, but she’d bought it as a gift for herself for moving so she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to enjoy it. She savoured the taste and sighed up at the ceiling. It was too quiet here, she realised. She’d lived in the heart of a city for the past six years of her life, and so to suddenly be so isolated felt unnerving. No distant cars driving by on the street, no drunken people on their way home from the bar, just silence and the occasional gust of wind.

“That’s gonna take a while to get used to,” she muttered, pulling out her phone to try and find some music to play. She needed _something _to fill up the silence. She settled on a playlist full of soft acoustic guitars, and relaxed back into her reclined position.

“I can’t believe this house was once so rowdy,” she chuckled, thinking back to Lydia’s diary. The whole possessed dinner party, the Beetlejuice clones, the wedding. It was almost funny, the way Lydia wrote about it – despite the adverse circumstances, Mara could tell she’d almost relished in it a little bit. She clearly found some of it fun. “I guess hanging out with a demon would be pretty amusing.”

She thought back to the story, to what he’d needed in order to be summoned. She opened her mouth and then closed it almost instantly – it was just a whacky story, what is she doing? She’s acting like a dumb kid, she was gonna embarrass herself. But then again, who was there to embarrass herself in front of? And it wasn’t like it would actually work, anyway.

So what was the harm.

Smirking at her own childish curiosity, she took another sip of wine and spoke.

“Beetlejuice.” Her voice almost seemed to echo in the empty room.

“Beetlejuice.” From up on the roof, Adam and Barbara froze.

“Beetlejuice!”

Mara was still for a moment, eyes flitting around the room. When nothing happened, she lay back down and mocked her own stupidity.

Suddenly, the lamp next to her began to flicker, light dimming and brightening erratically. As she peered up at it, the bulb blew with a spark, and Mara let out a scream. A gravely voice behind her chuckled, breath hot on her neck.

“Oh man, I’ve missed that sound.”


	3. Chapter 2; Introductions

Mara’s fist swung left without any hesitation, colliding with something squishy and forcing it back a few steps. An audible ‘omph’ came from whatever she’d hit, and immediately the lamp went back to normal.

“Hey, what’s the deal!” An agitated voice cried out. She turned to see her assailant – wild green hair, dusty and tattered pinstripe suit – _no fucking way. _“First you summon me and then you hit me? I’m not a punching bag you know, I’m actually-“

He stopped mid-tirade, finally looking around at his surroundings. He spun on his heels, once, twice, a third time, before coming to a stand still and frowning at her, still clutching his side where her punch must have landed. “Why the hell am I back here?”

Mara's mouth was agape at the sight before her, exactly like Lydia’s dairy had described. “I think I called you here,” she admitted, her voice barely a whisper. “I didn’t think you were real.”

“Oh I’m real alright,” he said, a mischievous grin appearing on his face before it faltered. “Everything’s so different, all their stuff is gone – oh shit, how long was I in the Netherworld? I knew time passed differently but I didn’t think this much had passed, now they’re all dead and buried and probably in the Netherworld having to put up with-“

He was pacing now, all pretence of malice gone. “They’re not dead!” She piped up, his head turning sharply. “You mean the Deetz’, right?”

All of a sudden he was storming her, flickers of red appearing in his hair. “What did you do to them?” he snarled. She backed up on the couch, shuffling away from him.

“Whoa, whoa, nothing! They just moved house, they’re all perfectly alive and well!” She raised her hands in a gesture of surrender. The man's – demon's? – rage was terrifying, but as soon as she’d answered the red seemed to deflate from his hair, and he took a few steps back.

“Oh.” Was all he said, standing there awkwardly. He looked pointedly at Mara for a few moments, before she saw some of his moxy return to his posture. “Didn’t think those breathers would ever have to guts to tell anyone about me.”

“They didn’t, not really. Lydia must have left an old diary here, up in the attic, and I read- _wait._” She visibly paled. “If _you’re _real, does that mean the Maitlands are too?”

Right on cue, the ghostly couple came running through the wall, hand in hand. “Beetlejuice!” they both cried, anger and shock on their faces.

“A dog! B town! My old pals!” he beamed at them, speeding towards them with open arms.

“Holy shit, you are real!” came the cry from Mara, and Adam looked horrified.

“You can see us?”

“I can see you!” she repeated, watching as they backed away from Beetlejuice’s hug.

“Hey, that’s no way to greet an old friend!” he pouted.

“Last time we saw you, you tried to exorcise me!” Barbara yelled, clutching on to Adam at the opposite side of the room.

“That was in the past, I’m a changed man,” he insisted, trying to walk towards them despite their efforts to continually keep their distance. “Come on, that was –“ Out of thin air a newspaper appeared in his hands as he checked the date on the front, “- five years ago? I _have _been gone a while.”

“I’m not buying it,” protested Adam, “I’m not going to be tricked by you again! Why are you here, really?”

The demon turned to eye Mara up with a wild grin. “Ask the breather, she’s the one that brought me here.”

“I’m sorry, okay! I didn’t know it was real – I’m a writer for heavens sake, I’ve spent my whole life reading and writing fiction. How was I supposed to know he was real? That any of what was in that book was real?”

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose, a sympathetic sigh escaping his lungs. “It’s not your fault, Mara – well, it sort of is, but –“

“Adam!” His wife’s elbow collided with his ribs.

“Right,” he winced. “You couldn’t have known. We had hoped to leave you out of all this supernatural stuff.”

“So you were just planning to keep on living here? With me?”

They both shrugged. “That was the plan,” Barbara nodded. “We weren’t going to haunt you or anything, not unless Adam really disagreed with your decorating. We were just going to leave you be.”

“Aww, how admirable,” Beetlejuice smirked, leaning almost comically against the fireplace. “Seems your little plan didn’t go very smoothly. You two really should be more careful with what you leave lying about, you never know who might see it.”

“We got rid of you once, we’ll do it again!” Barbara challenged, taking what Mara could only imagine was what she_ thought_ was a fighting stance.

“Hey, hey, what’s with all the hate! Don’t you guys remember how I saved you?”

“That doesn’t just instantly make up for all the other stuff you tried to do to us,” Adam said. “Like how you tossed our rulebook, and kept groping me?”

“Alright alright, I’ve got a lot to make up for,” he conceded, turning to Mara and pointing his thumb towards the couple. “Man, talk about holding a grudge.”

“They have a bit of a point,” she shrugged, still unsure of where she fit into this conversation.

Beetlejuice slumped his shoulders forward, walking towards the couch dejectedly and throwing himself down beside Mara. “You’re the one who summoned me and you’re not even on my side? What’s a dead guy gotta do to catch a break around here.”

“Maybe apologise?” Mara suggested, looking tentatively between the scene before her. She was going to need an exceptionally large glass of wine after this.

Beetlejuice huffed, stood up, and turned around with all the grace of a scolded toddler. “I’m sorry I tried to kill you all and marry Lydia and send you along to the Netherworld.” He threw his hands up in a huff, sitting back down. “There, all good?”

“You never apologised for the groping,” Adam pointed out.

The demon’s lips turned up into a pointed grin. “Adam, baby, I can never apologise for that. Daddy just needs his-“

“Alright, we’re leaving,” Barbara announced, linking arms with Adam and hauling him up the stairs. The two of them vanished, leaving Mara to turn nervously to the grinning demon at her side.

“So,” he started, one arm propping his head up on the back of the couch. “What’s a girl like you doin' in a place like this?”

“Living?” she answered, turning to sit cross legged and face him. “You know it’s gonna take time, right?”

“Baby, I’ve got all night,” he smirked.

“I mean the Maitlands,” she sighed. “I read Lydia’s diary, I know what you did. You did save them, but all that other stuff? It takes time to build up trust after that – jesus, I can’t believe I’m giving a pep talk to a dead guy, I’m going insane.”

Mara hung her head in her hands, running one hand though her curls. “I guess I should probably introduce myself, since I did bring you here. I’m Mara Burrows, I live here now, please please _please _don’t do any of that crazy shit you did five years ago.”

“Like what?”

Mara’s eyes were wide as she looked to him in disbelief. “Like the deadly gameshow? Possession? Literal _murder?_”

“You don’t gotta worry about me babe, I told you I’m a changed man,” he said, reclining back on the couch.

“I have literally no proof of that.”

“You’ve got my word.”

“The word of a demon.”

“Wow, leave your prejudices at the door, no room for them in this house.”

“That’s not – fucking hell you’re impossible.”

He simply winked and shot her some finger guns in reply.

Mara gulped down the last of her wine glass, refilled it almost to the top, and passed the bottle to the man beside her. It was about half empty, and he wordlessly accepted it, taking a swig. The two drank in silence for a few minutes, truly unsure of what to make of the others presence.

“Did you ever find him?” she asked, her glass already significantly more empty.

“Who?” he said, wiping a dribble of wine from his chin.

“Your dad. Lydia, her diary I mean, she wrote that you said you wanted to find him. Did you?”

“Oh, that. Uh, gimme a moment.”

Beetlejuice tilted his head right back, opened his mouth wide, and poured the entire rest of the bottle down his throat. Mara watched, almost in horror, as he gulped it all down, letting out a belch and tossing the empty bottle to the floor. Luckily it simply rolled and didn’t smash – like she could be fucked cleaning up broken glass on a night like this.

“So, you read the story, yeah? So you’re aware of the giant sandworm that ate my mother.” He said it as if it was the most mundane thing in the world. Mara nodded. “Soooooo, turns out that without her there to run the joint, it all went tits up. I’m talking total ghostly panic. I say my teary goodbyes, hop into the Netherworld, and arrive to find it a figurative – and literal, sometimes – brothel of chaos. Great fun, I know, but not the best for finding your long estranged father.”

“I see,” Mara pondered, trying to take the story as seriously as she could. “So that’s what you’ve been doing all this time, looking for your dad?”

Beetlejuice shrugged. “For a while. I sorta, uh, gave up after a bit – hey, don’t look at me like that! There’s not exactly demonic birth certificates, and trust me, _I asked._”

“So what have you been doing all this time?”

He frowned at that, and Mara felt a little guilty. “First of all, it hasn’t been five years for me, time works differently when you’re dead. Secondly… I didn’t really _do_ anything. I drank, saw some old flames, enjoyed the entire Netherworld being a disorganised pit of death – the usual.”

“So none of that soul-searching you mentioned?”

“Wow, Lydia sure was thorough,” he balked. “The entire Netherworld is full of souls, I sure found a lot of them.”

Mara wasn’t buying the deflection, and raised an eyebrow at him. “Alright, fine. _I guess_ I did some soul-searching. I mainly just sat around and thought about stuff while I drank. That counts, right?”

She snorted at that, raising up her wine glass. “Dude you just described most of my days off. So yes, in order to save my own pride, I’d say that counts.”

“See? I told you I was a changed man.”

“I’m still a little lacking on the proof, but I’ll give it to you that you’re not trying to scare me to death, so you get at least some brownie points.”

“I don’t have to prove anything to you,” he huffed.

“Yeah, you don’t, not to me at least,” she agreed, pointing a finger upwards. “It’s those two you’ll have to prove it to.”

She saw the tips of his hair fade from green to blue, if only just for a moment. “Easier said than done; they wont even listen to me.”

Mara recognised something in him. The way his shoulders slouched forward, the expression in his face as his eyes focused on the floor. He was lonely, so incredibly lonely.

“Tell you what,” she interjected, grabbing his attention. “How about you stay the night, and in the morning the three of you can sit down and talk about things?”

He scoffed. “As if they’ll let me stay.”

“Well, my name is on the mortgage now, so I get final say,” she insisted. In truth Mara felt awful about superseding the undead residents of the house, but she figured it couldn’t hurt for just one night.

“You’re that eager to have me in your bed, huh?” He wiggled his eyebrows, his flirty and confident demeanour reappearing. Mara thought she could make an educated guess to how much of that was an act, but decided it probably wasn’t her place to pick apart the emotional issues of a demon she’d accidentally summoned. Not yet, at least.

“You can sleep on the couch, or in one of the spare rooms, or anywhere else you’d like that isn’t a bed currently occupied by someone else,” you retorted. “Do you even sleep? Do ghosts?”

“If I feel like it,” he shrugged. “Those two will, they just _love _to act normal and totally not like their dead.”

“Well, if you want to sleep you can sleep, and if not you can just.. I dunno, make yourself useful and alphabetise my books or something if you get bored. I really don’t care as long as it’s nothing bad.”

“.. Define ‘bad’?”

She glared at him, and he erupted in laughter at her exasperated expression. “Fine, fine, scouts honour.”

“I can see you crossing your fingers behind your back, you know?”

“Gosh, you breathers are no fun.” He reclined back once more, arms behind his head and grimy shoes up on the coffee table. Mara didn’t even have the energy to protest, and decided that the best thing to do was chug the rest of the wine and head straight to bed.

“See you in the morning, I guess,” she waved, a little awkward as she headed for the stairs.

“Pleasant dreams,” he replied, waving his fingers at her as she went, a devilish smirk across his moss-stained face.


	4. Chapter 3; Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there! Apologies this took so long to churn out, blame university! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed, I can't tell you enough how much it brightens my day <3

When Mara woke up the next morning, she vehemently prayed that last nights ordeal could be blamed on her drunken imagination. But then she saw the grinning, green-haired demon sticking his head through her bedroom door, and she decided she couldn’t exactly pin this one on the wine.

“Good morning, Beetlejuice,” she groaned, frowning at him and reaching for her phone. “You know what privacy is, right?”

“Mhm,” came his reply, still wearing a shit-eating grin.

“So you’re just choosing to defy all social convention and politeness to invade mine?” She didn’t even look up from her screen as she scrolled through twitter.

“That’s right, babe.”

“If you want some company you can just ask, you know?”

That seemed to give him pause, as she continued to browse and await his response. He eventually sighed, phasing completely through the door and slumping at the end of her bed. “I’m guessing the Maitlands aren’t up yet, considering that you came to bother me?”

“Still fast asleep,” he confirmed with what was almost a grimace. “They somehow manage to get more sleep when they’re dead than they did when they were alive.”

“Suppose you’ve got nowhere to rush to when you’re a ghost, no reason to get up early,” Mara shrugged, an arm tucked behind the pillow she reclined against. “Besides, it’s probably best that they’re well rested before you all talk. Did you sleep last night?”

“Only for three minutes, then I got bored,” he shrugged.

“Well the house is still standing as far as I can tell, so thanks for not demolishing it I guess,” she mused, locking her phone and tossing it down onto the duvet. “I’m gonna go make breakfast, you want something?”

Beetlejuice lay down on his back, peering backwards at her. “I’ll have whatever you’re serving up,” he purred.

“Sweet, I’m gonna go dig out the wafflemaker,” she nodded, unphased by his suggestive tone. From what little she’d seen of him last night she’d decided that the best tactic with him was probably to just act unaffected. Mara knew he was looking for a reaction out of her, and she refused to give one to him. In fact, she mused to herself that she might be able to play him at his own game.

She heaped the duvet off of her, standing up out of bed with a stretch. She heard Beetlejuice make a series of garbled and surprised sounds as she calmly walked towards the desk chair, picking up her dressing gown and throwing it over her naked body. She didn’t even make eye contact as she left the room, telling him that waffles would be ready in about twenty minutes.

Mara was still smirking to herself as mixed the batter together, seeing movement to her left and expecting it to be Beetlejuice. Instead it was Barbara, blonde hair up in a bun, wearing sweatpants and an oversized shirt. She looked up at Mara and gave a gentle smile, perching herself up at the breakfast bar.

“I’m really sorry about all this,” she admitted, looking a little ashamed.

“About what?”

“You never asked for this – a house full of ghosts, a lecherous demon, I’m sorry you had to get burdened with it.”

“Barbara, you’re not a burden,” Mara assured her, switching on the waffle machine. “And in your own defence, I’m the one who summoned Beetlejuice here, so it’s really my fault. Honestly, it’s kind of nice to know that there’s someone else here. It felt too empty when I first arrived.”

She smiled at that, the sides of her eyes crinkling up. “You’re sweet,” she hummed. “I think Adam is just glad you’re nice, we’re honestly terrible at haunting.”

“Adam was going to haunt me if I wasn’t nice?”

“Only if he _really _opposed your furniture choices.”

The two laughed together and made idle conversation while Mara made the first round of waffles, the smell of hot batter filling the kitchen. Beetlejuice eventually emerged, and a tense glance passed between the demon and the ghost. What Mara wanted more than anything was just for everyone to get along – she knew from experience how terrible it was living with roommates who are at each others throats.

“Yours are all done,” she announced in an attempt to break the tension. She passed Beetlejuice a plate stacked high with waffles, and despite the lingering air of unease from Barbara his eyes widened at the food before him. “I put a heap of different toppings out on the counter over there, help yourself.”

She watched in horror as he practically drowned his waffles in maple syrup, picking them up and eating them with his bare hands. Both she and Barbara were agape, watching the sticky golden residue run all the way down his sleeves.

“You don’t get to touch a single thing in this house until your hands are clean,” Mara muttered, pouring more batter into the machine.

“I’m going to go see if Adam is up,” Barbara nodded, shuffling off of her seat and heading upstairs. As soon as she left the room, Beetlejuice looked at Mara in indignation, mouth still full of food.

“See? She doesn’t even want to talk to me!” he protested, licking syrup off his fingers.

“That’s because you came in here, didn’t say a word to her, and started devouring waffles like a rabid gremlin,” she sighed. “You need to sit down with them both and just talk. Honestly, it’ll never cease to amaze me how many people don’t understand the benefits of simple communication.”

“Pfft, communication,” he scoffed dismissively, now working to lick the syrup off of his dirty jacket sleeves.

“Look, if you wont talk to them, then why not just leave?” Mara was frustrated now. She was _trying_ _to help, _didn’t he get that?

He looked up at her with a deep frown, a look more serious than anything she’d truly seen on him before. “I.. I just – I don’t want to.”

“You don’t want to?”

“Yeah, I don’t want to!” Flickers of red appeared in his hair – one streak, then two, then more as he spoke. “Why should I have to explain myself to some stupid breather, huh? Just because you summoned me doesn’t mean you get to stick your nose in any of my fucking business.”

“I’m not trying to be nosy, I’m trying to help,” Mara explained slowly, hoping to calm him. “I get it, okay? Verbalising and expressing your feelings can be difficult, especially when you’re not used to that, but I’m just trying to lend a hand.”

“Feelings? Don’t talk to me about feelings,” he grunted, the red fading from his hair a smidge. “I was alive for, what? Ten seconds? Thirty? And I felt _so much, _it was horrible! Now I’m dead again, but it’s like bits of all those horrible feelings are still stuck inside me, and no amount of drinking or scaring or fucking can get them to leave.”

The red tints had turned a purple now, and Mara was starting to gauge that his hair colour correlated to his mood. “So you’ve got these feelings, and their all new and foreign, and you’re not used to them? Beetlejuice, that’s one of the most human experiences right there.” Mara slowly walked towards him, tentatively putting a hand on his shoulder. His still wore the deep frown upon his brow.

“I’m not going to pretend that I’m some sort of expert, or any sort of therapist, but usually I find that talking to someone about my feelings really helps me understand them clearer,” she suggested, trying not to push him too much. “I’m not going to force you to leave, because that doesn’t feel very nice, but I also cant just let you stay here while whatever is between you and the Maitlands remains unresolved. So how about all four of us sit down, have a respectful, adult conversation, and come to an understanding?”

He grumbled something under his breath, sucking the last of the syrup off of his digits, before sighing and looking up at her. “Fine, but only because those were really good waffles.”

\--***--

Adam and Barbara sat at one end of the dining room table, hand in hand, looking rather tense. At the other end sat Beetlejuice, flecks of blue clashing with the usual green in his hair, his left leg bouncing up at down erratically. Mara sat between them, looking anxiously back and forth. This certainly wasn’t what she’d expected for her first full day in her new home.

“I know I’m not really part of this, but just think of me as a moderator – I’m here to make sure the conversation goes smoothly,” she clarified. She really wasn’t entirely certain how this would go, she just put her faith in the Maitlands being rational. “Beetlejuice, would you like to start?”

He nodded a little reluctantly, straightening his posture and sorting his tie and jacket, fiddling with the lapels. He opened his mouth, paused, cleared his throat, and paused again.

“I’m really – I know that – what I did to you guys wasn’t very nice,” he managed. Mara smiled a little, thinking back to their earlier conversation. After he’d agreed to talk to the Maitlands she had gently sat him down on the couch, and tried to get him to open up about his feelings. It surprisingly took very little, once she pried a little, and she managed to help him put words to how he felt. “I was.. desperate. Desperate to escape, to be accepted, to be _seen._”

He let out a long-held sigh, gazing down at his shoes. “I know it doesn’t change what I did, but I just wanted you guys to know that I wish I hadn’t done it, and I wanna be friends again. I really like you guys.”

He finished up, still refusing to look at them, the blue streaks of hair becoming more prominent. The couple gave each other matching looks, an obvious mix of pity and uncertainty. “Would you guys like to respond?” Mara encouraged gently.

Adam spoke first. “Thank you for apologising,” he said, taking off his glasses. “I know you weren’t.. in the best of places when everything happened, and you definitely seem like you’re better than you were. But after all that happened, it’s just-“

“It’s going to be hard for us, Beetlejuice,” Barbara interjected, “to trust you again. No matter how much we want to.”

“I know,” came the quiet, crest-fallen reply from the other end of the table.

“We went through a lot in those few days. I know you saved us, and we’re extremely thankful that you did, but it doesn’t erase everything that came before,” Adam added. He looked more and more regretful the more he spoke. “Besides, we haven’t seen you in five years. Everything’s a little.. different.”

For the first time since the conversation began, Beetlejuice looked them in the eyes. “Will you let me try?”

“Try what?” asked Barbara.

“Try to prove to you guys I can be trusted again, that I’ve changed. You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to, but at least let me try.” Mara had never heard him sound so serious, and it threw her for a bit of a loop. His voice held a sincerity, one that was normally buried under all the raunchy jokes and egotistical comments. It was like there was a whole other person sitting in that chair.

Turning to the Maitlands, she could tell they were just as surprised and taken aback as she was. They were both silent for a moment, taking in this side of him they’d maybe assumed was there, but never truly seen.

Beetlejuice spoke up again, his voice shaky. “_Please_,” was all he said, a desperate and heartfelt plea.

“Okay, we’ll let you try.”

Beetlejuice seemed to blink rapidly at Barbara’s words, and Mara swore she saw his eyes get a little glassy. She blinked, and the next moment he was behind their chairs, wrapping his arms around them both and uttering a profound stream of ‘thank you’s.

“Boundaries,” Adam chastises gently, just enough to get him to release his grip, but the demon was still standing there grinning. All of the green in his hair was back, and Mara couldn’t help but feel her heart warmed by his genuine hope.

“You guys aren’t gonna regret this, I promise,” he beamed.

“I’ll, uh, leave you guys for a lil bit, if you wanna talk some more,” Mara said, standing from her chair and heading towards her bedroom. She felt like at this point her role as moderator was redundant, and deigned it best to give the trio some privacy.

The thought of unpacking crossed her mind, but after the day she’d had she figured she was allowed to skip it for now. She flopped down on her bed, idly scrolling through twitter to kill time, making some vague lists in her head of anything she needed to buy. She really needed to get groceries.

About a half hour later there was the rap of knuckles against her bedroom door. “Come in,” she called, expecting either Barbara or Adam, but instead in walked Beetlejuice. “Oh, hey. You knocked. Thanks.”

“I uh, just wanted to say thanks, for all of that earlier. I’m sorry I yelled at you at breakfast, as well.” He took a few steps towards the bed, sitting himself down at the end of it. “You were right, by the way?”

“About what?”

“Talking to someone about my feelings. It really helped.”

Mara couldn’t hold back the soft smile that spread across her face. Beetlejuice was so unlike anyone she’d ever met – he was usually so intense about everything, like a car that was constantly speeding. To see him so different now – she could almost describe it as _measured_ – showed her how capable he was of growth. 

“I’m really glad I could help, you’re a pretty nice dude all things considered,” she shrugged, reaching forward to give him a pat on the arm. “Plus, I did punch you the first time we met, so I owed ya one.”

He chuckled at that, shoulders shaking gently with laugher. “You’re definitely not the worst breather I’ve met,” he replied.

“Oh, such high compliments? Whatever did I do to deserve such flattery,” she playfully mocked, pulling dramatic faces and hand movement.

“Those _were _some real good waffles.”

She joined him in his laugher, and the atmosphere of the house felt lighter than it'd ever been since she moved in. She pondered on the reason it’d felt so odd when she’d first arrived – it wasn’t because it was empty, it was because it was devoid of life. Real, heartfelt, joy-filled life. And despite the fact that three out of the four residents were dead, the house began to feel like it’d truly come back to life.


	5. Chapter 4; Step By Step

Adjusting to life with live-in spectres was honestly a lot easier than Mara had anticipated. The company was certainly welcoming, albeit rather distracting in terms of her novel. She’d hoped to have it ready to send to literary agents by the end of the year, but with Beetlejuice enamoured with his new best friend that was seeming more and more unlikely. She couldn’t complain, despite her word count refusing to grow. She enjoyed having him around.

She got to spend time with the Maitlands too, and they were both simply a delight. Sometimes it was all four of them, sometimes three, sometimes just two. It’d been a while since she’d lived with people, and she found it warmly refreshing.

She tried to encourage Beetlejuice to take the initiative when it came to repairing things with the Maitlands. In her own words, she felt like he needed to be slow and consistent. Of course, he’d taken the opportunity to throw back a lewd joke, but it seemed that despite his humour he’d taken her advice to heart. She started to notice little changes during his interactions with them – he gave them both their personal space, resisted the urge to mess with them, and even stopped calling Adam “sexy”. The only downside to this was that a lot of these chaotic behaviours seemed to shift into his interactions with Mara instead, but she didn’t mind it as much – she was comfortable playing off of it in a mutual way, and if anything it helped them become closer. At least he was doing it to someone equally as chaotic; she was just far more subtle about it.

And so she found herself a week post-intervention, sitting in a very familiar position. Sprawled across the couch, legs up, computer on her lap. The word document sat open on her screen, having gained a meagre fifteen words in the past hour. A green-haired demon floated on his stomach beside her head.

“So what are you writing about, anyway? You said it’s a book?”

“Horror fiction, or at least that’s what it’ll hopefully be,” she explained, rubbing at a tired eye. “Unfortunately we cant all be Steven King and simply churn out a full novel in four months – but considering the consistency of his quality it’s probably a good thing.”

“Horror? Why didn’t you say so, babes!” He smiled with elation, whizzing around to sit next to you on the couch. “I’m great at that – I’ve been scaring for centuries!”

“Its.., different,” Mara explained. “I have no doubt you could scare the shit out of me if you wanted to, but that’s because you’re trying to. You can _become _scary, but you don’t scare me like this –“ she motioned to him sitting there, looking casually at her.

“To me, real horror comes from things – people – that scare you without even trying. Their inherent being is terrifying. Think less snakes-for-faces, more unsettling and unnerving auras, if you get me?”

Beetlejuice responded with a shrug. “I guess, but I still think I’m _very _scary.”

Mara laughed at the small pout on his face, giving him a reassuring pat on the arm. “Yeah you are big guy, super duper scary.”

“What about that time I almost made you fall over in the shower?” He snickered.

“That’s because _anybody _appearing behind you while you’re mid-way through a horrid rendition of bohemian rhapsody is terrifying. That one doesn’t count.”

He snorted a laugh at her defence, as she gently closed the laptop, fairly certain she wasn’t going to get any more work done today. At first she’d been a bit perturbed by the lack of privacy, but she soon realised it was never out of malice, but more about seeking a reaction. He didn’t want to sneak up on her in the shower because it was pervy and weird, it was because he wanted a reaction out of her. She didn’t even think he had a specific reaction in mind, merely the sheer acknowledgment of his action in whatever form of reaction that may take. He was certainly an interesting character to say the least, but Mara felt that the best way to handle it was to simply shrug it off as if she didn’t really care. She tried to give him acknowledgment in different ways, like small ‘please’ and ‘thank you’s around the house, as well as regularly checking up on him if only for a quick chat. It seemed to help lessen the frequency of his intrusions, but they weren’t always unwelcome. Mara had a good sense of humour for that sort of thing, so rolling with the punches came fairly easy.

“Giving up for today?” Barbara said, coming in from the kitchen. “Sorry, that sounded mean, I didn’t mean it like-“

“Nah it’s all good,” Mara reassured her with a small smile. “The answer is yes, I think I’m solidly done for today. If I’m lucky I’ll have a whole new paragraph by the end of the week.”

“That’s the spirit!” she beamed, with a smile that could light up the room. Despite being dead, Mara felt sure that this woman was the pure embodiment of sunshine, without even realising it.

Her husband appeared moments later, holding a spatula in one hand. “Food’s ready, if you’re hungry,” he chimed softly. During one conversation, Adam had explained that as they slowly got to grips with their ghost powers, they’d been able to channel their loosely levitational powers into a much more refined strength, essentially letting them pick up and use objects around the house. They couldn’t physically touch anything, but by focusing their power into their hands it practically did the same job. They’d obviously been delighted by this – it opened up a whole new level of independence for the couple – and Adam certainly rejoiced in being able to cook again. He was good, too. Like, _really _good.

“What’d you make? It smells delicious,” Mara complimented, standing up and stretching, a few of her bones cracking as she went.

“Just some omelettes. I might have gone a little overboard with the seasoning,” he chuckled.

“No no, they smell great,” she assured him. She eagerly headed towards the kitchen, Beetlejuice in tow, and looked upon the plates with glee. Adam was definitely a better cook than he let himself believe.

Beetlejuice grabbed a fork with gusto and shoved a sizable chunk into his mouth, chewing with great excitement. “A-Dog, this tastes amazing! Sexy, and a great cook? Babs, I can see why you fell for him.”

Mara saw a flash of worry across the demon’s face for a moment, having let the ‘sexy’ comment slip without noticing, but Adam didn’t seem to mind. “Thank you, I’m glad you like it,” he said, almost looking bashful as Barbara slipped her arm around his own.

“We’re going to go finish off that 2000-piece jigsaw, we’ll see you guys in a bit,” she said, as Adam tentatively put the spatula down gently.

“Have fun you guys, thanks again for the food!” Mara waved them off as they headed upstairs towards the attic, leaving her and the still worried-looking Beetlejuice alone in the kitchen.

“They.. they didn’t say anything?” he said, mouth still half full of food.

“What do you mean?”

“I called Adam sexy. Usually he hates it when I do that – Barbara gives me the evil eyes as well. But.. but they didn’t, not this time. They didn’t even seem to mind.”

“Well, you know, things are a little bit different now,” she shrugged, trying to explain. “You know, you’re on better terms with them at the moment, so it feels less predatory and more like a genuine compliment.”

“But it was always a genuine compliment..”

“I know, but think of it this way – a stranger calls me sexy as I’m walking down the street, and that’s gross. I don’t know them, and we’re not on the same level. A friend calls me sexy, and I _know _it’s a genuine compliment because we know each other, we know each other’s boundaries, and I know it comes from a place of genuine affection.”

His only reply was a pensive ‘huh’, as he slowly finished chewing the food in his mouth. He looked almost like a cow slowly chewing grass, before swallowing and letting out a sigh. “I kinda get it.”

“It’s all about understanding where the line is – it’s different for every person, and when you’re first getting to know somebody it’s a lot about learning where that line lies,” she continued. “Any sort of relationship is a two way street, ya know?”

Beetlejuice nodded along, shovelling more omelette into his mouth. “So what your saying is,” he started, bits of egg on his chin, “that it’s fine to call people ‘sexy’ once you’re not strangers anymore?”

“I mean, essentially yes, but it’s a bit more nuanced than that,” she chuckled. “But yes, that is the basic idea of it all.”

“So can I call you ‘sexy’?”

Mara was caught off guard a little by that, before composing herself. “If you’d like – I’d agree with you, I _am _sexy. I’m personally comfortable with that, so I don’t mind.”

“Cool, sure thing sexy,” he finished, with a finger gun and a wink. Mara snored and finished off her own omelette, not wanting it to get cold. The thought occurred to her that she really needed to have Adam give her some cooking lessons.

Both of them having completely cleared their plates, Mara washed everything up in the sink and returned to face her floating friend.

“So, what’s your plans for today?” he asked her, slowly spinning mid-air like a rotisserie chicken.

“Not too sure, if I’m honest – I should probably finish unpacking all my books into the study.” Despite being here little over a week, there was still plenty of boxes lying about – Beetlejuice was very good at being a distraction. “You can help, if you want? I can show you some more of the music I like.”

He stopped spinning for a moment, and then started turning in the opposite direction. “That sounds so boring though!”

“Well, sometimes you’ve got to do the boring things to get to the fun things, no matter how much it may suck,” she retorted, leaning forward and giving him a very light flick on the nose. “If you help me unpack the study, we can play some Mario Kart later?”

That changed his mood instantly, floating in a summersault before landing in front of her on his feet. “You’ve got yourself a deal, babe!” he grinned, holding onto the lapels of his suit jacket. “Well, whatcha standing around for? Lets get a move on!”

An hour later, and Mara was happily humming to herself, moving around the study in a dance-like rhythm as she placed books in their rightful places within the dark cedar bookcases. The sounds of Hozier’s newest album filled the room, as Beetlejuice floated around her, handing her the books from the box.

“I didn’t realise you were much of a dancer,” he pointed out, handing her a copy of _The Return Of The King_.

“I’m not – not really, anyway. I did it a lot when I was younger, but not so much now. I don’t think I’ve properly danced since the start of university – I probably couldn’t even do a decent waltz nowadays.” In truth, she often thought back fondly upon her time at dance classes, and it was something she often regretted giving up. Still, her studies had to come first.

“Aw, a waltz is super easy though!” Beetlejuice scoffed, landing down beside her. “Anyone can do a waltz.”

“Can _you_?” she looked at him incredulously

“Of course,” he said, looking at her as if was obvious. “I’m a dancer by nature, baby, its in my soul!”

“Oh,” Mara paused, “I honestly didn’t expect that.”

“Yeah doll, I love to dance, especially when you get into those netherworld raves – hoh momma, they are the shi-“

“Can you waltz with me?”

Whatever he was about to say was gone. “What?”

“I want to see if I can still remember how to do it right,” she explained, putting the book down. “Will you try with me? Here, I can put on the right music too!”

She excitedly grabbed her phone to open up Spotify, leaving Beetlejuice standing there a little dumbfounded. “Ah, perfect, good ol’ Johan Strauss the second,” she grinned, hitting play and turning up the volume. She put the phone back down, and turned to him expectedly. “Well?”

“Sure thing,” he shrugged, a hand running through his hair – still green, with the tiniest hint of pink at the tips. Mara probably wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t intentionally been looking. He stepped forwards, putting his arms out a little, seemingly unwilling to make first contact. Mara made no hesitation in taking a hold of his left hand, and putting the right one under her arm. With her left hand on his shoulder, she smiled and nodded to him to begin.

“Okay babe, we’ll start slow,” he assured her, a hint of that devilish grin on his face that just made Mara laugh. “Forward left, side with the right, close with the left, back with the right – yeah, that’s it!”

The first few steps were a little shaky, as Mara was adjusting to this new proximity with Beetlejuice. She’d been entirely naked in front of him before, and yet somehow this felt more intimate. He was cold to the touch, but not as much as she’d imagined – not so much like ice, simply more like someone with bad circulation. She was used to his smell, but it was far more intense this close, the earthy and somewhat woody tones filling her senses. It was a lot to take in at first, and so her feet took a moment to catch up to his instructions, but she felt herself quickly fall back into an easy box waltz.

“See, I told you,” he grinned, seeing the elation spread across her face. “Any chump can do a waltz.”

“I dunno, you’d be surprised, “ she shrugged, her body falling into the motions without much thought. “I had a girlfriend in highschool who was absolutely terrible as it.”

“Girlfriend, huh? I didn’t realise we were both fans of the fairer sex,” he joked, putting on an oxford English accent.

“Beej, I’m bi,” she laughed.

“Oh, nice. Me too.” Their steps sped up a little, spinning around in time.

“Yeah, I guessed.”

“How?”

“Dude, you couldn’t take your eyes off my ass that one time, and you constantly call Adam ‘sexy’. It was a pretty solid hunch.”

“Look, I’m simply stating facts.”

They both broke into childish laughter, their dance continuing around the room. Footsteps got faster and faster, almost as if they were both trying to dare the other to keep up, and Mara couldn’t keep the wonderment off her face.

Beetlejuice turned them both, Mara’s left leg catching the corner of a box and causing her to lose her stride, stumbling for a few steps before she felt herself falling towards the ground, screwing her eyes shut in preparation for the impact.

When she opened her eyes, Beetlejuice was inches from her face.

His arms had snaked around her, catching her body in a dip and saved her head from a nasty thud with the floor. Both of their chests were heaving, breath heavy from the dancing and the laughter.

“Careful there, sexy, we wouldn’t wanna add a third ghost to the list,” he said quietly, his raspy voice barely a whisper.

Mara blinked a few times, stunned in the moment, before she felt herself pulled back up to stand. Beetlejuice let go of her and took a few steps back, the pink tips still in his hair. “You alright?” he asked, leaning his head to the side in an almost puppy-like motion.

“Yeah, thanks,” she nodded, heat rising in her cheeks. “I’m gonna go make a coffee, I’ll be back in a bit, feel free to keep going if you’d like.”

She didn’t wait for his full answer before she left the room, trying not to go as fast as she wanted. She reached the kitchen swiftly, but she could still hear the waltz music playing from the study. Leaning against the counter, she let out a slightly shaky breath, and put two fingers to her neck. Cursing herself, she could feel her racing pulse under her skin, and she could tell that her cheeks were pink.

“Shit.”


End file.
